When God studies our hearts to find out if we appreciate his care and help, he will look first to see whether we love Jesus Christ.

Reflecting upon the providential works of the Lord, Psalm 22 comes to mind. Here, Israel's King David prophesies Christ's crucifixion, a thousand years before the event:

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.(Ps 22:15-18)

The vision is exact: specific details are foreseen, later to be corroborated in the Gospel accounts.

How does the Spirit impart the future to a human mind? Is time an illusion? How does it happen that evil men providentially crucified God's only begotten son to make him both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36)? Surely God is in control of all events and all people, a comforting thought, though jarring.

Which is the more jarring thought: That Christ chose to be cruelly crucified, sacrificing his life so that we might be reconciled to the Father; or that God the Father demanded capital punishment for the sin of man, designing that nothing but the death of his only son could render that justice; or that we, the sheep of his pasture, are provided not only salvation and eternal life, but also daily help for every need by our loving God and Creator?